<p>Apple was once the undisputed king of the smartphones. However,with recent blunders such as the catastrophic new Maps andcounterproductive Lightning cable, the iPhone 5 has plenty of rivals worthy of yourattention - in particular Microsoft's recently redesigned Windows8. But is switching really worth the hassle? GQ traded ouriPhone for a week with HTC's 8X to find out.</p><p>Giving up is (not) hard to doSwapping your iPhone for Windows (or Android) isn't asdifficult as it might appear - numbers can be switched with easeand transferring iTunes music and photos to the 8X is simple.Windows' "People" app is actually superior to Apple's contactsbook: log in via Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn and it will pullin all your friends details, with profile pictures, Twitter handlesand more. But the best part is the Windows' live tile home screen -which flickers up to show your tweets, photos and messages in realtime. Verdict: Makes iPhone feel a little lifeless bycomparison.</p><p>Bigger isn't necessarily betterFor someone who thinks that smartphone design essentiallypeaked with the iPhone 3G, the 8X feels comparatively huge - itswide 4.3" screen can actually make navigating with just one handvery difficult. At 130g, the 8X is heavier than an iPhone 5 butfeels noticeably lighter than Nokia's gargantuan Lumia 920. Size aside, the 8MP camera is sharp enough for your pop-uprestaurant snaps and the Beats audio packs a suitable punch for alittle Kendrick Lamar on your commute.Verdict: Not overweight, but tough to get ahold on.</p><p>App soreThe biggest drawback with Windows phone is their apps -whereas iTunes store is packed with millions of pieces of software,Microsoft's offering is taking some time to catch up. Noticeably,neither Spotify or Instagram were available for the 8X at thetime of writing. The good news though is that both Twitterand Facebook's Windows apps are actually better than the iPhoneversions.Verdict: Noticably lacking compared to iOS - butexpect most developers to release Windows versions fairlyquickly.</p><p><a href="http://www.gq-magazine.co.uk/entertainment/articles/2013-01/02/htc-one-8x-review-switching-to-windows-phone">Keep reading...</a></p>